Around 8:50 p.m., firefighters were mobilized to a first fire in Sarthe, in Rouessé-Vassé, near Sillé-le-Guillaume, in the north of the department. The fire started in a residential house on rue du Bourgneuf. The ground floor and first floor were affected.
When firefighters arrived on scene, they discovered the lifeless body of a man inside the house. According to the first elements provided by the gendarmerie, it is the occupant of the premises. Warned, the mayor of the town, Hugues Bombled, also went to the site. According to him, the victim, living in the town for several years, was known “for being a very lonely, depressed and alcoholic person”. Still according to the mayor, the firefighters and the police had already come to his home in the past. The evening of the tragedy, a neighbor invited him to dinner around 7 p.m. but the man did not come. The precise circumstances of the fire are not yet known. An investigation was opened and an autopsy was requested by the public prosecutor.
Two other people relocated
In the early morning, around 5:30 a.m., another house was engulfed in flames, in La Ferté-Bernard. The fire was brought under control using two hoses. Two people were relocated in the town.
In total, 40 firefighters (20 in Rouessé-Vassé and 20 in La Ferté-Bernard), as well as 13 engines, were dispatched to these two fires.
